LEOPARDS CAGE CARDINALS | Liberty-Eylau scores early and often, gives Sabine a rough night
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TEXARKANA — Sabine has played well on occasion this year, and already has a couple of wins, ended an 18-game losing streak, and still has the opportunity to make the playoffs in a tough district.
But Friday night was not a red-letter day for the Cardinals.
They traveled north to Texarkana to face Liberty Eylau and came away with a 54-7 loss and a 0-2 record in district.
The highlight of the night for the Cardinals was one play midway through the fourth quarter. After turning the ball over on downs at the 14-yard line, the Cardinal defense took over. A high snap by the Leopards over the head of the quarterback which rolled in the endzone and Dontae Tolbert pushed his way to the ball and was able to recover in the end zone for a Cardinal touchdown, erasing the zero on the board.
Now a recap of the first three quarters.
The Cardinals took the opening kickoff and quickly turned it over. On third down, Griffin DeHoyos went for a long pass on third down. Liberty Eylau’s Braeden Parrish picked it off.
The Leopard offense quickly moved down field. Quarterback Huntley Fisher found Ty Hawkins for 18 yards, followed by a 15-yard run by Arian Taylor. Then Taylor went 25 yards for the first score. Fisher added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
The Cardinals went a quick three-and-out. After the punt, the Cardinal defense could not stop the Leopard offense. Fisher ran for 15 yards, followed by an 18-yard pass from Fisher to Rob Armstrong. A 24-yard pass play to Hawkins was quickly followed up by Taylor taking the final 20 yards for his second score of the night.
After a quick four play series by the Cardinals, the Leopards took three plays to find the end zone again. Taylor went for 14 yards and then Fisher found Tray Bragg for 29, followed by Hawkins catching a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 21-0 L-E lead.
The Cardinals took the ball into the second quarter but turned it over on downs. Taylor then broke for a 63-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, but the Leopards were up 27-0.
The Leopard defense forced the Cardinals to punt, but it was blocked by Za Welch and recovered by the Leopards. Two plays later, Taylor had his fourth touchdown of the night, still in the first half.
With only one first down so far, the Cardinals managed two more but turned the ball over on downs. Taylor then rolled out another 27 yards on the ground and Fisher went 3-for-4 on the drive, capping it off with a 14-yard strike to Kaiden Peacock.
A bad punt by the Cardinals as the half was coming to an end gave the Leopards a short field. After Taylor added 17 yards on the ground, he gave way for Fisher to keep the ball and sweep in for a 10-yard score and a disastrous blow to Sabine, all of it adding up to a 47-0 halftime lead for L-E.
In the third quarter, the Cardinals kicked off to Bragg, who weaved his way down field for a 70-yard kickoff touchdown. Fisher added the final point for the Leopards. The Cardinals took a long drive into the fourth quarter, ending with a turnover on downs.
This set up the play of the day for the Cardinals, as big lineman Tolbert made the highlight reel with his fumble recovery in the end zone.
Damin Richardson led the team with 57 rushing yards. The Leopards were led by Taylor, who had 178 yards on the ground and the four scores. Fisher had 170 through the air and a score and Hawkins pulled in 87 of those yards and the score.
Next week, Sabine will host the Tatum Eagles.